How realistic is Mars Horizon? We ask real space agencies 🚀

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Thanks to everyone who played the demo, wishlisted the game, and tuned into our livestreams during the Steam Game Festival! We've had lots of great feedback from our community to help us keep improving Mars Horizon.

Watch the Mars Horizon streams

As well as showcasing our demo we also asked experts from the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency how Mars Horizon compares to the real thing - watch the livestreams below!

  • Andrew Kuh, Head of International Spaceflight Policy from the UK Space Agency, tells us about working for a real space agency, micro gravity, and bacon sandwiches in space!

Watch the UK Space Agency Mars Horizon stream

  • Emmet Fletcher, Head of the ESA Branding and Partnerships Office at the European Space Agency, tells us about the astronauts he’s met, designing spacecrafts, and ESA's collaborations.

Watch the European Space Agency Mars Horizon stream

Mars Horizon podcast episodes

Want more Mars Horizon goodness? We've got a podcast with lots of interesting episodes about the game including episodes on:

Wishlist Mars Horizon on Steam

If you haven't already, please take a few seconds to wishlist Mars Horizon on Steam! You'll be the first to know when the game is released, plus you'll be helping out a small developer (we've written a blog post on how Steam Wishlists help us out a lot.)

The full game is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2020. You can also sign up for the Mars Horizon mailing list to stay up to date with the latest developments and announcements

Wishlist Mars Horizon on Steam

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

Mars Horizon is part of The Steam Game Festival - including a free the demo! 🚀

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Mars Horizon is part of The Steam Game Festival: Summer Edition, running from June 16th @ 5pm GMT until June 22nd @ 5pm GMT! 👨‍🚀

The Steam Game Festival shines a spotlight on games set to be released within the next year. You can try out demos, connect with the developers, and wishlist the games for a reminder of when they launch! Here's how to get the most out of The Steam Game Festival.

Play the Mars Horizon demo

Check out the demo - available to download from the Mars Horizon Steam store page. Choose from 3 space agencies, play through Era 1 of space exploration, build your base, design rockets, and put the first human in space! 
Please Note: The Mars Horizon demo is a shortened version of the Mars Horizon beta. It does not include any beta feedback changes implemented into it - we are still working hard on these!

Check out the Mars Horizon demo

Wishlist Mars Horizon on Steam

Please Wishlist Mars Horizon on Steam! That way you'll be the first to know when the game is released. 

We're a small developer and wishlisting makes a huge difference to how many people see our game on Steam. If you’d like to know more we've written a blog post on how Steam Wishlists help us.

Wishlist Mars Horizon on Steam here

Chat to us on our livestreams!

We're doing 2 special livestreams during the festival. These will be broadcast straight to the Mars Horizon Steam page and we will be taking questions over the Auroch Digital Discord to answer on stream. Make sure you join us for even more Mars Horizon goodness!

Make sure to join the Discord to give us your questions

Make sure to join the Discord to give us your questions

  1. UK Space Agency AMA and livestream
    Wed June 17th 3-5pm UK Time / 4-6pm CEST / 7-9am PT

    Andrew Kuh, Head of International Spaceflight Policy from the UK Space Agency, joins us as we play the Mars Horizon demo. He'll talk about what it's really like working for a space agency and tell us more about human spaceflight. Give us your questions for Andrew in the Discord.
     

  2. European Space Agency AMA and livestream, plus Mars Horizon feature reveal
    Fri June 19th 3-5pm UK Time / 4-6pm CEST / 7-9am PT
    We'll be joined by Emmet Fletcher, Head of the ESA Branding and Partnerships Office at the European Space Agency. He'll be telling us all about the challenges missions face in real life and chatting about what its like working with rockets and astronauts. We’ll also be playing the full version of Mars Horizon and revealing the final 2 space agencies featured in the game. Give us your questions for Emmet and the devs in the Discord.

Join us on the Auroch Digital Discord

Now that you've played Mars Horizon you probably want to talk about the game with someone. Where can you go? Join the Auroch Digital Discord and you'll have lots of people to chat to.

You can find out more about getting Discord here.

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

The Irregular Corporation is publishing Mars Horizon!

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We’ve got some very exciting news on Mars Horizon - we’ve signed to a publisher! The excellent people of The Irregular Corporation are now our publisher for Mars Horizon and we’re over the moons (of Phobos and Deimos) about it. Read more about it in their official announcement!

The Irregular Corporation: “We are publishing Mars Horizon!  We’ve got some really exciting news to share with you today. We are pleased to announce that we have joined forces with Auroch Digital to help them lift off their game, Mars Horizon to PC and consoles!  We are thrilled to begin working with the talented team, starting with a closed beta on PC happening in just 3 days time...so get your space suits ready!“

We’re really excited about working with The Irregular Corporation and sharing our game with their community, as well as our own. We’ve got loads of great stuff coming up so stay tuned. Check out The Irregular Corporation on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or jump into their Discord to say hi.

We’ve also got a brand new announcement trailer to celebrate the announcement!

Sign up here to stay up to date with all the latest Mars Horizon news, including the release date!

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

Frequently Asked Questions: Mars Horizon

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This is the official FAQ for Mars Horizon. We’ve collected the most commonly asked questions and will keep adding more, so check back regularly.

If there's anything you think we need to add just let us know on Discord or send an email to MarsHorizonfeedback@AurochDigital.com.

Expanded Horizons Update FAQ

  • Will old saves work with the new update?

    • All quality of life changes will work in old saves but they won't include the new vehicles, Sandbox, or Ironcore. To get the updated vehicles or to play new gameplay modes you will need to start a new game

  • How do I get to Sandbox Mode?

    • Sandbox mode is accessible from 'customise experience' in the main menu.

      Start a new game > Choose your space agency > on the next screen choose Customise Experience to get to the sandbox options

  • How do I get to Iron Core mode?

    • Iron Core mode is accessible from 'customise experience' in the main menu.

      Start a new game > Choose your space agency > on the next screen choose “Iron Core mode”

  • Are Achievements disabled in Sandbox mode?

    • Yep, they’d be too easy to get otherwise!

  • Are there any new achievements?

    • Yes there are 3 new achievements with Expanded Horizons

Mars Horizon FAQ

  • What is Mars Horizon?

    • Mars Horizon is a strategy simulation game about leading a major space agency and guiding humanity to Mars. It allows you to write your own alternate history of space exploration, building rockets, launching payloads, assembling your launch centre, and directing missions from the control room. The team has made the game truly authentic as it was created with support from the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency.

  • When was Mars Horizon released?

    • The game was released on 17th November 2020.

  • What platforms is Mars Horizon available on?

    • Mars Horizon is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. It is also compatible with the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

  • Can I stream the full game?

    • Yes, please do! You can stream the game or upload videos of it. We love to see people playing our game in real time. Drop a link to your streams or videos in the coverage section of our Discord.

  • I'm playing on Nintendo Switch and I can't play with JoyCons attached?

    • On the screen asking you to select joycons and to press L+R, just press A instead.

  • Where can I report bugs?

    • If you’ve found a bug check out this link which gives more detail on reporting bugs as well as finding any associated log files which helps us a lot to track down issues.

    • Please send bugs to this email address: MarsHorizonBugReport@AurochDigital.com - please let us know which platform you are reporting for.

  • How can I find my Steam save file?

    • C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\some_numbers_here\765810\remote\saves

  • Where can I talk to someone from Auroch Digital?

    • If you just fancy a chat, head over to our Discord (find out more about getting Discord here)

    • If you’re press or an influencer, send an email to Marketing@AurochDigital.com

    • If you’ve got feedback or suggestions about our games, why not leave a review!

  • Is there a tutorial?

    • The game has a detailed tutorial created based on feedback from the beta. You can also drop into our Discord if you need any help and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.

  • Where can I get more information about Mars Horizon?

  • I want to speed the game up and/or don’t want to do the mission control part?

    • You can use auto-resolve on request missions to speed things up a bit (this skips the mission gameplay part).

    • This option is available after a successful launch, though you need to have the option on (check the "Auto-resolve" setting in Options)

  • I’m finding the game too easy/hard?

    • The ‘Pioneer’ mode is the normal difficulty, which should be fine balance-wise (though obviously some will find it too hard, some too easy).

    • For example you can changing the difficulty to "Explorer", or customising the difficulty for "Missions" if you’re finding that part of the game especially hard (you can edit individual difficulty settings by pressing "customise" on the Difficulty Select screen)

  • The random number generator of the game (RNG) seems off? I keep failing missions?

  • Is this game like Kerbal Space Program (KSP)?

    • A bit. Both games share a theme (space) and authenticity in what they portray, but while KSP is focused more on the physics of building spacecraft and piloting them, Mars Horizon is much more about the strategy and management of running the agency and the strategy and tactics of Mission Control.

    • For example in our game, there is rocket design, but it is much more modular (which reflects the real-world approach, so we discovered!) and our game has areas like diplomacy between agencies (again, based on real research with space agencies).

    • We do know that there are plenty of fans of KSP who play Mars Horizon (there’s fans of KSP on the dev team too!) but each game does it’s own thing.

  • How many squares does each base building occupy?

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Jemima Crow

The Mars Horizon beta will take place on 27th April 2020! 🚀

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UPDATE: Sign ups for the Mars Horizon beta are now closed - we're not taking any more applicants. Thanks to all our awesome beta testers - you can still play until May 4th @ 9am GMT. You can still join our Discord to discuss the game! You can also sign up here to stay up to date with all the latest Mars Horizon news including the release date!

Want to try Mars Horizon for free and help us make the game as great as possible? Sign up to be part of the PC beta which starts on 27th April 2020. We need you to play our game and let us know what you think.

What is Mars Horizon?
Mars Horizon is a strategy simulation game where you lead a major space agency as you guide humanity to Mars. Construct a base, design and build rockets, conduct missions throughout the Solar System, and write your own history of space exploration. Created with support from the European Space Agency. Learn more about how we worked with the European Space Agency in our podcast.

Check out our beta trailer for more:

What will the beta include?
The beta allows you to experience the journey as far as the Moon. The full game takes you to Mars and beyond.

  • Undertake 14 milestone missions (out of 36 in the full game)

  • Choose to take on approximately 30 optional request missions

  • 3 playable space agencies: ESA, NASA, and Roscosmos (5 in the full game)

  • Approximately 8 hours of gameplay

  • Dozens of rocket parts, upgrades, and payloads to research

  • Multiple buildings to unlock and construct

  • Hire, fire, and even rename astronauts

  • Exciting narrative twists which can aid or hinder your goals

Please note: The Mars Horizon beta is a sample of the full game and is still in development.

The full game is coming to PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2020. 

  • Step 1: Sign up to the beta here (UPDATE: Beta sign ups are now closed - we are no longer taking applicants)

  • Step 2: Get a confirmation email

  • Step 3: We'll send you a beta code and email with instructions near the beta date

  • Step 4: Log into Steam and redeem your code

  • Step 5: Join our Discord which we’ll be running over the beta for help, support, and questions

  • Step 6: Play the Mars Horizon beta

  • Step 7: Let us know what you think of our game

Please Wishlist Mars Horizon on Steam!

We are a small developer and it helps a lot to get our game in front of more players on Steam. 

We've written a blog post with more details about why wishlisting is important, but in short, it helps us show Steam that people are interested in our game and helps us get in front of new audiences. It also means you’ll get notifications for important events, like when the game is released or on sale.

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Auroch Digital

Marketing and Community Managment for Auroch Digital in Bristol, UK.

Our favourite free video games to self-isolate with

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Like many people around the world, the studio is self-isolating from the Coronavirus. We’re very fortunate in that we’re able to work from home, so projects have been moving ahead as normal and our day-to-day work life - while certainly different - hasn’t been affected as badly as others.

That said, in this kind of situation it’s easy to get bored and we’re more frequently looking for fun things to do with our spare time when we can’t go outside or meet up with friends or do the things we would usually do.

We know others are in the same boat, so we’ve put together a list of some of the studio’s favourite free games. Some of these are commercial games now released permanently for free, some are experimental indie freebies, others are open source projects we love or beloved flash games from back in the day, and a handful are free-to-play with IAPs or ads (though they’re not essential to enjoying the game).

Have fun and stay safe!

Stones of Solace by Dziff

Stones of Solace by Dziff

Stones of Solace by Dziff
Windows, Mac
Recommended by Jem

From the developer: “Stones of Solace is a minimalistic and contemplative ritual, offering you a quiet space for relaxation. Find out what your idol is every day, and take some of your time to craft them a gift.”

Oolite by Giles Williams, Jens Ayton, et al

Oolite by Giles Williams, Jens Ayton, et al

Oolite by Giles Williams, Jens Ayton, et al
Windows, Mac, Linux
Recommended by Mike

From the developer: “Oolite is inspired by the 8-bit classic Elite, and many aspects of gameplay will be familiar to players of that game. In the tradition of open-world games, there's no overall story: you can be a millionaire trader, a veteran combateer, a feared pirate, a lonely miner, a notorious smuggler, or all of them, or something else entirely, based on your own actions.”

Hordes.io by Hordes.io

Hordes.io by Hordes.io

Hordes.io by Hordes.io
Web
Recommended by Pete P

From the developer: “Find your clan, survive large scale open world PVP and arenas, hunt down bosses and fight your way to the top in this group oriented MMORPG.”

Butterfly Soup by Brianna Lei

Butterfly Soup by Brianna Lei

Butterfly Soup by Brianna Lei
Windows, Mac, Linux
Recommended by Joel

From the developer: “A visual novel about gay Asian girls playing baseball and falling in love.”

A Painted Ocean by Neil Thapen

A Painted Ocean by Neil Thapen

A Painted Ocean by Neil Thapen
Windows
Recommended by Aaron

From the developer: “Command a Napoleonic-era man-of-war. Sail the oceans of the world.”

Old School RuneScape by Jagex

Old School RuneScape by Jagex

Old School RuneScape by Jagex
Windows, Mac / Android, Apple
Recommended by Dan

From the developer: “Relive the challenging levelling system and risk-it-all PvP of the biggest retro styled MMO. Play with millions of other players in this piece of online gaming heritage where the community controls the development so the game is truly what you want it to be!”

Line Rider by Emergent Studios

Line Rider by Emergent Studios

Line Rider by Emergent Studios
Web
Recommended by Charlie

From the developer: “Draw a track for the sledder to ride on! The classic and super addictive sandbox game.”

Bernband by Tom van den Boogaart

Bernband by Tom van den Boogaart

Bernband by Tom van den Boogaart
Windows, Mac, Linux
Recommended by Sam C

From the developer: “explore the city of the pff, 23 or something unique locations to discover”

Dancing Road: Color Ball Run! by AMANOTES

Dancing Road: Color Ball Run! by AMANOTES

Dancing Road: Color Ball Run! by AMANOTES
Android / Apple
Recommended by Matt W

From the developer: “Enjoy the catchy music and challenges designed for each dancing road. Let's roll the ball and feel the beat in this Color Matching Game!”

Beneath a Steel Sky by Revolution Software

Beneath a Steel Sky by Revolution Software

Beneath a Steel Sky by Revolution Software
Windows, Mac, Linux
Recommended by Peter W

From the developer: “Featuring Revolution's Software innovative Virtual Theatre system, Beneath a Steel Sky is a gripping science fiction point and click adventure game in the cyberpunk genre.”

Chasing Birds by David Czar

Chasing Birds by David Czar

Honourable mentions...

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Peter Willington

How to get a job in video games

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Last updated: 10/09/2024 

We often get people reaching out to us for advice on how to get into the game industry. It’s a great place to work - creating something you love and working with like-minded people. But it can be difficult to break into games and everyone seems to have a different path. For that reason, we’ve collected everyone’s experiences here at Auroch Digital to help you figure out how you might be able to get your start working in games.

First steps to take:

  • Decide what you want to do! Figure out if you want to get into programming, UX/UI, business development, production, marketing, journalism, or something else.

  • Take part in game jams! There are loads to choose from and you’ll get a chance to try out different roles. At the end of it you’ll also have a game that you can add to your portfolio.

  • Make a game! This can be daunting but there are loads of resources that will help you. It’s not as hard as it sounds, promise. 

  • Get networking! We have lots of socials and events open to anyone at the Games Hub. There are similar communities all over. Come along and get to know people. 

  • Sign up to newsletters! Game developers often use newsletters to reach out to their community, post jobs, but also discuss game ideas.

  • Practise your craft! You’ll only get better at writing, design, and coding by actually doing it. It will also help when applying for jobs if you can show what you can do. 

  • Build a portfolio! Once you’ve got a few examples of your work pull them together into a portfolio to show off to potential employers. Don’t just tell them what you can do, show them.

  • Sign up to game job listings! Even if you’re not ready to apply yet, browsing jobs will show you what’s out there and what people are looking for. Two listings we can recommend are gamesindustry.biz and gamasutra.

  • Join Twitter! It is a great place to get an insight into the game industry. Hashtags like #gamedevjobs #gamejobs show you what people are looking for. You can also find loads of useful threads with games industry advice.

For an insight into what working at an indie game dev studio is like listen to our podcast episode “A day in the life of Auroch Digital”.

About Auroch Digital

Originally founded in 2010, Auroch Digital became a Sumo Digital studio in 2023. We are a remote-first game development studio with a base in Bristol, UK. We are the developers for Warhammer 40:000 Boltgun and Mars Horizon but we’ve also ported and published popular Steam titles and brought them to console. These include the storytelling RPG Wildermyth, the fishy theme park management game Megaquarium, cute robot city builder The Colonists, and the political sim strategy game Democracy 4.   

Find out more about the people who work at Auroch Digital below! 

Nina, Auroch Digital’s Studio Director

Nina (She/Her) - Studio Director at Auroch Digital

Nina was hired as the Office Manager in 2015 when there were only 12 of us. She then moved into production, going on to release Ogre and Acthung Cthulhu: Tactics, then branched into biz dev, pitching projects such as Brewmaster and Boltgun. This meant that Nina ended up in a position with experience across the breadth of the company and really enjoyed the plate spinning joy of helping to run the business. With hard work and the wonderful support of Auroch, she was promoted to Ops Director in 2021 when we were acquired by Sumo and then to Studio Director of Auroch Digital in 2024.

When asked ‘What is a piece of advice would you give yourself starting out?’ this is what Nina had to say “Just go for it, try your hand at everything, and see what your enjoy and are good at. “

Tomas (He/Him) - Vice President of Sumo Digital UK

Tom’s biggest piece of advice is to get as much experience working in teams as possible. You might be great at coding or art, but if you can’t work with a team of people then you won’t get on well at a game studio.

Tomas giving a talk at WASD about sustainability in gaming

Some good overall tips:

  • Don’t Spam studios with generic emails.

    • Studios get hundreds of spam emails daily so to get your message across, it needs to stand out. Make sure the subject is appropriate and relevant.

  • When asking for work experience make, don’t just talk about how it will be good for you, what will the studio gain?

    • Make sure to include in your request what the studio will gain. Remember that many studios are tiny and taking on someone for this role is a significant cost in time and resources.

  • Don’t turn your nose up at an offer because it’s not the exact role you want.

    • All experience counts and often the stuff that matters most is the core areas such as teamwork.

  • Got the interview? Make sure you are well prepared and research a lot.

    • Make sure you've researched the games of the company your going to an interview with and ideally played their games. If you want them to take an interest in you, then take an interest in them.

Tom has also written an article with advice for parents whose kids want to work in games. Give it a read here.

The Brewmaster team enjoy some beer research

Peter (He/Him) - Production Director

After Peter got his acting degree he started a podcast about retro gaming while working in retail. In his spare time, he wrote about and created videos about games for websites. He also topped up his CV by getting a job in live entertainment marketing. After building up enough contacts in the game industry, he was able to become a marketing, community, and section editor for a major game website, and eventually deputy editor. During this time, he realised that what he liked about games was seeing how they were made and getting the most out of a team, and so he got a job here at Auroch Digital. 

“Get involved in games in whatever way you can. The things you'll learn by making and critiquing games, regardless of whether you're a professional or not, are incalculably valuable. Throw a story together in Twine, make a utility app in Unity, do an animation set for RPG Maker, make a Flappy Bird clone in Unreal... it's all going to be useful and shows that you genuinely have a passion for making stuff when it comes to a job interview.”

Aaron (He/Him) - Creative Director

Aaron studied cybernetics at university before getting a job for a few months as a game tester at Lionhead. He then went on to get an engineering job for about 6 years whilst still working on game modding projects in his free time. His experience modding games eventually landed him the chance to join an indie game studio. 
“Only consider a career in games if you already find yourself spending lots of your free time working on games for the sheer joy of it.”

Jemima streaming Megaquarium at an aquarium in front of the shark tank

Jemima (She/Her) - Marketing and Comms Director

“I’m a game marketer because I love games, but also, and more importantly, because I love marketing. I started off doing marketing for the Institute of Physics, but when a role came up to do marketing for games, I jumped at the chance. Since then I’ve been able to get other roles in the game industry by asking someone if they knew of any roles going, and being told to sign up to a studio newsletter. Networking is important, both for getting support and finding out about opportunities and roles.
My advice is to give yourself as many opportunities as possible by getting to know people, signing up to newsletters, and following studios on socials. You never know which opportunity will turn out to be your lucky break.”

Sam (He/Him) - Principal Programmer

Sam started learning programming in his spare time while working another job. He spent years learning as well as making games in his spare time. During this time he was also getting involved in the Bristol games scene, did Games Jams, and networked. When the right role came along he was well prepared and had a good portfolio.

Matt (He/Him) - Principal Designer

“My two bits of advice: play a wide variety of games; try making a game in Unity or Unreal Engine to see which areas of development you're drawn to.”

Office-17 (1).jpg

Some of the Auroch Digital devs hard at work

Dan (He/Him) - Principal Artist

Dan got a Video Game Art degree and then worked as a teaching assistant on the same course. Following that he came to us here at Auroch Digital.

“I think the reality is that your grades and qualifications don't really matter, it comes down to your portfolio and the last bit of artwork you've done. Providing a solid portfolio and delivering a good art test will get you a job in opinion.”

Freddie (He/Him) - Associate Programmer

“Building a portfolio of personal projects/game jam games puts you in very good stead. As well as the experience, it gives you plenty to talk about in an interview to show off your passion! For programmers specifically, it's also great to talk about the latest or upcoming features in your preferred engine. If you can talk about your favourites and how you'd use them, it shows real initiative! Final piece of advice would be to not limit yourself, geographically speaking. There are so many game studios around the country and many of them will have remote working positions available.”

Joseph (He/Him) - Artist

“The process of applying for jobs in games can be challenging, it's important to remember that rejections are part of the process. Just because someone else got a job you wanted, doesn't mean you aren't good enough for it, they might simply have had more experience.

Soft skills are extremely valuable in a competitive field like video games. You have to assume everyone else applying for a role you want is as technically capable as you - so demonstrating other qualities like friendly openness, enthusiasm and self-confidence can be very important.”

Matthew (He/Him) - Senior Audio Designer

Matthew’s journey into games didn’t come by way of an application like most peoples, he was a freelancer. Did it for 7 years, built up a relationship with us and was kindly offered a role once our studio has reached a certain capacity.

Matt recording peter for the Auroch Digital Podcast

  • Have faith in your abilities

  • Build professional friendships / relations

  • Show more than a keen interest in what a studio is producing / working on / has shipped, introduce yourself to its circle

  • Reach out to like minded folk online [X (formerly Twitter) / Instagram are golden for this]

  • Post your work examples / portfolio online, but do not rely on this, when I was freelance I landed almost every gig by having attended a meetup of some sort

  • Don't sweat the small stuff, focus your energy on what you can change, drop the rest

  • Technical skill is of course important, but I'd put interpersonal skills above

  • Freelancing [whilst living on a knife edge], is actually a very good source for contact gathering, and builds a very grateful outlook and perspective

Lucy (She/Her) - Producer

“My advice is pretty simple.... You've just got to keep trying! Getting your foot in the door is the hardest part of getting into the games industry, but once you're in you'll find out we're a pretty tight knit community. Be prepared to face a lot of 'no' but once you get that 'yes' - even if its not your dream role - you should take the opportunity.”

Simon (He/Him) - Marketing Manager

“My main piece of advice for getting a career in games is to become part of a wider gaming community. Find a game or genre that you thoroughly enjoy and make connections through Discord channels, Reddit, or other social media sites. I have worked in marketing for over a decade, and it was through getting to know people this way that I was able to get my first role in video games. It’s not just something that can benefit your career but can help you meet like-minded people who make a long-lasting and positive impact on your life.”

Auroch Digital at the tough mudder finishing line

Eren (She/They) - Lead Artist

“Give everything that interests you a go and don’t limit yourself to start with, work out what you genuinely enjoy first. Build up your portfolio based on that enjoyment; it will be much easier to show your best work when you have fun with the process.

Remind yourself that everyone has their own pace and path into the industry, do not compare yourself to others and base your value on that, this can be especially hard at the beginning.

Get involved in mentoring, feedback and reaching out to others for advice. Not only will you improve yourself as a developer, but you will learn the interpersonal skills that are needed for working within a studio. Learning how to receive and give feedback can be hard but will massively help you in your career!”

Hannah (She/Her) - Associate Producer

“Talking about yourself and identifying your strengths can be a very tough process, so my top tip when pulling together your resume/portfolio is to try and think of yourself as you would think of a friend! We can be our own worst critiques, but think about the unique perspective and experiences you can bring to the table, and what skills you developed from them. As cheesy as it sounds, I think genuinely being your authentic self is so important too! If you are presenting an idealised version of yourself you may miss the chance to form genuine connections, or miss warning signs. We are all human, and have our own strengths, flaws, passions, and boundaries. There is also such value in a diversity of voices, so don't squish yours down to fit into a job!”

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Jemima Crow

You helped us save loads of lovely animals - THANK YOU!

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For nine days we ran a charity drive with 100% of the money from the sales of Mars Horizon: Blast Off going to Australian Animal Rescue (AAR). Thank you so much to everyone who took part. Together with your help we’ve managed to raise a total of £2,675!

AAR is a non-profit organisation run entirely by volunteers who came together after the devastating April 2009 bushfires. AAR has been hard at work during the current bushfire crisis in Australia delivering food, water, bedding, and medical supplies to people and animals alike. They’ve also been rescuing as many trapped animals as they can.

Australian Animal Rescue cares not only for wildlife, but also domestic animal rescues and adoptions. They’ve been helping kangaroos, Kookaburras, kittens, cows, and so many more. They operate 7 days a week and provide animal rescue and information services throughout Victoria. 

Here’s a gallery of AAR helping out, as well as some of the animals they’ve been caring for. Your donation will help them to save even more:

Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of Mars Horizon: Blast Off, your donations will help a great deal. If you missed out you can donate money directly to Australian Animal Rescue on its website. 

This charity drive has been a big success so we are already planning more for the future. Make sure to sign up to our newsletter to hear about out future charity drives as well as other giveaways and gaming updates. 

For all you new board game owners you can watch our “How to play Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF!” video below:

This video tutorial will teach you how to play Mars Horizon: BLAST OFF! GET THE GAME HERE: https://www.aurochdigital.com/products/mars-horizon-blast-off This video will teach you the basics of the game, what the special cards mean, and will go into detail about how to take turns. In Mars Horizon: Blast Off!

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Jemima Crow

Urgent sale to raise money for Australian Animal Rescue Inc (AAR) - 100% of the sales go to help rescue animals

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It’s been hard to watch the massive bushfires spread around and engulf southeastern Australia. 

So far, 1.5 million acres of natural land and the lives built in and around it have been destroyed. It’s killed at least 26 people, more than a billion animals, and damaged or obliterated nearly 3,000 homes. Devastating.

We’ve been asking ourselves, as a game studio based in Bristol, UK, what we can do from all the way over here. We make and sell games, so the answer to what we can do to help out those who are trying to handle this emergency is obvious. 

Until midnight on January 19, 2020, we’re donating 100% of the money from the sales of our new board game Mars Horizon: Blast Off to Australian Animal Rescue Inc (AAR).

[OUR SALE HAS NOW ENDED - YOU CAN DONATE TO AUSTRALIAN ANIMAL RESCUE HERE TO SUPPORT THEIR ONGOING WORK]

We’ve chosen Australian Animal Rescue Inc (AAR) as the charity we’ll be giving all the money to as we are big animals lovers and they’re working incredibly hard saving wildlife and domestic animals as we speak. Auroch Digital will also be making a separate donation to AAR on top of the sale money.

AAR is a non-profit organisation run entirely by volunteers who came together after the devastating April 2009 bushfires. Since then, its members have been working to rescue wildlife from bushfires and provide as many supplies as possible to affected people and animals - both wild and domestic.

The team helps even further by acting as an information resource during these crises, as well as by helping shelters and finding ways to source funding to cope with these disasters.

Follow the Australian Animal Rescue Inc (AAR) Facebook page to get live updates of what they are doing to help, you can share their posts and see what your donations will be going towards.

At the beginning of 2020, AAR managed to raise £10,134 AUD for medical supplies and animal food that is delivered to evacuation points set up in response to the current bushfires.

We’d be eternally grateful if you could help us raise even more money for AAR’s cause by purchasing Mars Horizon: Blast Off. It’s a board game that tasks each player with launching the first manned mission to Mars. It’s great fun, accessible, and we’re very proud of it. You get to enjoy a great new game and know that your money is going to save some animals in need.

If you can’t afford to buy the game but still want to help out then you can donate money directly to Australian Animal Rescue Inc on its website. 

Another way to help is to share this blog post with as many people as you can to make them aware of how they can help those affected by the Australian bushfires. 

This is a real crisis for our times and we can’t sit idly by as it continues to ruin the lives of helpless animals and the people who care for them. Thanks in advance for any help you provide.

Below is a gallery of the animals AAR have been rescuing, your donation will help them to save many more just like these:

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Jemima Crow

Auroch Digital at Pocket Gamer Connects London 2020

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Pocket Gamer Connects (PGC) is an international series of B2B events for the global games industry. The next event is in London, Jan 20th - 21st, 2020 and Auroch Digital is attending!

PGC London 2020 will feature 26 content tracks across five stages; 310 speakers; 190 sessions; over 850 companies represented; 2,500 delegates expected. You’ll have the chance to connect with publishers, developers, indies, investors and international games professionals from across the industry. This year it includes PC, console, VR/AR and blockchain in addition to mobile. Publishers and developers attending include King, Supercell, Facebook, Zynga, Tencent, Amazon. You can view the full schedule here.

This year our Design Director Tomas Rawlings is on a panel about Indie publishing so make sure to go give it a listen if you are attending. Further details on the panel are below:

Indie Publishing - How Indie developers deal with publishing in PC/console, biggest challenges and advantages and opportunities ahead

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  • Date: Jan 20th

  • Time: 12.20 pm

  • Panelists:

    • Jason Robar, AuthorDigital (Moderator)

      Jacki Vause, Dimoso

      Tomas Rawlings, Auroch Digital

      Danil Lucic, Croteam

      Steve Filby, Motion Twin

      Xavier Liard, Playdigious

    Register your attendance and grab a ticket here.

If you’re attending PG connects and would like to set up a meeting just reach out to us or Tomas and we’d be delighted to talk.

Grab your ticket here and save 20% with our special code ‘AUROCHDIGITAL20’.

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Jemima Crow